Chair attachment.



A. V. & W. H. JACKSON.

Patented Nov. 9, 1909.

5 E 5 5 E N W W UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ARTHUR V. JACKSON AND WALTER H. JACKSON, 0]? PIN OLE, CALIFORNIA.

CHAIR ATTACHMENT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 9, 1909.

Application filed March 2, 1909. Serial No. 480,831.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, ARTHUR V. JACKSON and WALTER H. JACKSON, citizens of the United States, residing at Pinole, in the county of Contra Costa and State of California, have invented new and useful Improvements in Chair Attachments, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to an attachment for chairs which is especially designed to receive crumbs scattered by the occupant of the chair, and generally for the purpose of protecting the floor or carpet.

It consists in the combination of parts, and in details of construction which will be more fully explained by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation. Fig. 2 is a plan View showing the chair legs in cross section. Fig. 3 is an enlarged view, showing the clamp attachment at the foot of a chair leg. Fig. 4c is a view of the slidable link.

It is the object of our present invention to provide a simple and self-adjusting attachment, which may be applied to chairs of varying dimensions, and a means of folding the attachment for transportation and of fitting it to any chair.

As shown in the present drawings, A is a childs chair and B is an apron of'any desired area, greater than the base of the chair, suflicient to form a protection for the floor or carpet underneath. The edges of this apron are preferably provided with an elastic of sufficient tension to normally fold the apron up, and draw the edges closely around the chair, when the apron is out of use, and the elastic provides a tension so that when the apron is extended, the edges between the extending levers will be slightly turned up so as to form a receiver to retain anything falling upon the apron. The chair legs may rest upon the apron, and may be attached thereto, if desired.

The device for extending the apron con sists of levers 2 the ends of which are adapted to engage the angles of the apron in any suitable or desired manner.

We have here shown strings or cords which pass through holes in the outer eX- tremities of the levers, and attached to suitable gromets, or other means at the corners of the apron, and by means of these strings,

' the corners of the apron may be drawn so as to conform to the lever arms 011 chairs of different dimensions.

The lever arms are fulcrumed to clamps 3 which are maintained at a suitable distance from the floor by means of an angle piece 3, which may be bent beneath the leg of the chair, or into an indentation made to receive it, and the clamps 3 may be further held in place, either by a clamping-screw or bolt passing through them at 3, or by means of twisted wires 6, or an equivalent turn-buckle which will produce a substantially even tension, and thus retain these parts in place.

The elevation of the clamps above the lower ends of the chair legs and the floor is such that when the clamps are pressed down to stretch the apron, the tension of the elastic border of the apron draws below the fulcrum points of the levers, and thus the outer ends and the apron are held down, but when lifted above the fulcrum point of the levers, the tension of the elastic will draw the apron up around the chair as before described.

I11 order to extend the levers 2, or to draw them up, we have shown rods 1 which are pivoted to the levers 2 outside of the points where the levers 2 are fulcrumed to the clamps 3. These rods 1 converge upwardly between the chair legs, and they connect with the angles of two bars 4 which are slidable in an inclosing sleeve 5. This adjustable connection is important, because in the manu facture of such chairs, the spread of the legs is very often different, and it is necessary to provide a means by which the attachment may be applied to chairs in which the diagonal dimensions between the legs may vary. These bars 4.- also form a means for operating the device. If the apron is folded, and the levers 2 upturned about the chair, the device may be extended by simply placing the foot upon the bars 4, and pressing down. This will force all the levers 2 outward simultaneously, and extend the apron until the ends of the levers are below their fulcrum points, when the tension of the elastic around the edge of the apron, will maintain them in position.

If it is desired to fold the device, by placing the toe below the bars 4:, and slightly lifting them, the rods 1 will draw the levers 2 up until the ends are above the fulcrum points of said levers, when the elastic in the apron will complete the foldingand contraction of the apron. This device also admits of the cloth being opened to one side so as to discharge its contents; it being simply necessary to push the slidable bars 4 in the direction toward which it is desired to discharge, as for instance, toward the front, when that portion of the cloth to the front will be pressed downwardly away from the chair, and will thus be in position to be readily discharged and cleaned.

The special object of the slidable bars 4 is to enable the device to be adjusted to chair legs which may not be square with each other, and it will be understood that any equivalent flexible or yieldable connection for the rods 1 may be employed without altering the character of our invention.

The apparatus thus constructed is readily foldable to form a light and compact package, which may be transmitted by mail.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. A chair attachment consisting of levers fulcrumed to the chair legs, an apron with which the outer ends of the levers are connected, and by which levers the apron may be extended or drawn up about thechair leg,

rods having their lower ends connected with the levers outside of their fulcrum points, the inner ends converging upwardly, and adjustable connections between the contiguous ends of the arms.

2. In an attachment for chairs, levers fulcrumed to the chair legs, an apron, to the angles of which the outer ends of the levers are connected, rods having the lower ends pivoted to the extension levers outside of their fulcrum points, said rods converging upwardly beneath the chair, and guided slidable bars with the contiguous ends of which the rods are connected.

3. In an attachment for chairs, clamps surrounding the lower ends of the chair legs and having apron-extending levers fulcrumed thereto, said clamps having lugs adapted to engage the bottom of the chair leg, and means for maintaining the clamps in position upon the chair leg.

4. In a chair attachment, clamps and means by which they are secured to the lower ends of the chair legs, turn-buckle or tension devices connecting diagonally opposite clamps, and lugs extending downwardly from the clamps and engaging the bottom of the chair legs, levers having their inner ends fulcrumed to the clamps, and an apron, with the angles of which the outer ends of said levers engage, rods having the lower ends connected with the levers exterior to said lever fulcrums, said rods converging up-' ARTHUR V. JACKSON. IVALTER H. JACKSON.

Witnesses J. MoOLINTooK, TI-IEODOR HERRMANN. 

